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Thursday, 14 August 2014

SOUTH AFRICA EXPELS SWAZI ACTIVISTS

Three Swazi
political activists who were denied political asylum in South Africa are
expected to leave the country on Friday (15 August 2014).

But, it is not
clear if they will return to Swaziland, amid fears that they might be
imprisoned by King Mswati III’s regime.

There is speculation
that the three, all high-ranking members of the Communist Party of Swaziland
(CPS), might try to find asylum in another country. They are CPS General
Secretary Kenneth Kunene, Goodwill Du Pont and Sithembiso Simelane. Du Pont is
originally from Siteki, Simelane from Manzini and Kunene from Bhunya.

The trio left for South Africa in 2005 when they faced
arrest for engaging in political activism in the kingdom. Political parties are
banned in Swaziland and many have been labelled ‘terrorist organisations’ by
the Swazi state. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch.

The fear for the activists’
safety in Swaziland heightened last week after the kingdom’s Prime Minister
Barnabas Dlamini called on two workers activists who spoke against the
government while on a visit to the United States to be ‘strangled’ on their return home.

The three activists were
reportedly told by South Africa that Swaziland was a democracy and they
faced no threat if they returned to the kingdom when it revoked the political asylum permits that had allowed the three to remain
in the republic.

In Swaziland democracy campaigners are routinely
beaten and arrested by police. In May 2010 Sipho Jele was killed
in custody by state forces. He had been arrested for wearing a T-shirt with the
name of the banned political party PUDEMO written on it.

CPS National
Organizing Secretary Njabulo Dlamini called for the unconditional and safe
return of the exiled activists if they were forced to return to Swaziland.